From Ugly Duckling to Beca's Swan
by luvscience
Summary: Stacie has been hiding something from the Bella's and Beca accidentally finds out. Beca agrees to keep Stacie's secret and it brings the two girls closer than ever. Through their now shared secret, Beca finds out about Stacie's past and reveals some of her own hurts. Rating has been changed to M - lemons and Beca's mouth in Chapter 6
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story starts early in the Fall semester during Beca and Stacie's third year at Barden (the year before PP2). I'm assuming the girls already have the Bella house at this point and Flo is a part of the group (although I don't even know if she'll show up in the story or not at this point, just making sure she's available if needed). It's a little short for a first chapter, but I've been having writer's block lately (I've started 3 stories/chapters and have gotten stuck in the middle of them) and wanted to get something out.

Summary: Stacie has been hiding something from the Bella's and Beca accidentally finds out. Beca agrees to keep Stacie's secret and it brings the two girls closer than ever. Through their now shared secret, Beca finds out about Stacie's past and reveals some of her own hurts.

Rating: T (for now – may change to M at a later date)

Disclaimer: Nope, Pitch Perfect and PP2 are still not mine.

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It was Thursday evening and Beca was starting to panic a little. She had an English Comp II paper due in the morning that she had barely even started. She had tried sitting in the coffee shop to work, but that just wasn't working. There were too many people and the free internet wasn't helping her much either. So she had packed up her stuff and was now leaning against a tree in the quad trying to write something, anything really. She was gazing off into the distance, trying to think but her mind kept wandering, when a familiar figure caught her eye. She watched Stacie walking across campus on the other side of the quad, which was odd because Beca thought she had said she had a date tonight. Beca smiled when she turned into the Science building, thinking some geek was going to get lucky tonight. Her mind tried to return to the task at hand, and she had actually gotten a couple of sentences out, when she saw Stacie come back out of the Science building, backpack in hand. Now Beca really thought that was odd, because she didn't have any kind of bag with her when she went into the building.

Beca watched Stacie walking away, then down at her assignment, then back up at Stacie. It was no contest, Beca hurriedly put her things into her bag and then followed Stacie. They didn't have to go too far before Stacie turned into another building. Beca watched through the window as she stopped at the front counter and got what appeared to be a key. As Stacie turned away, Beca panicked slightly, how was she going to follow her without being noticed in the building? Then she got a brilliant idea and waited until her friend had walked into the stairwell. Beca ran through the door, pretending she had run a ways to get here. She stood at the counter panting as the lady behind it came up. Beca held up her finger to ask the lady to hold on a second while she caught her breath. She put a hand on the counter, leaning on it as she breathily told the lady, "I was trying to catch my friend, she just walked in here. We were supposed to meet to study but I forgot what room she said we were going to work in."

The lady looked at her with a surprised look before she smiled, "Oh, Stacie doesn't normally study with anyone. I'm glad to see that she is working with some friends now. She's up in room 312."

Beca thanked the lady and then headed deeper into the building. As she walked towards the elevator, she looked around at the shelves of books and thought to herself, "Wow, this is what our library looks like. I might have to come here more often." When Beca reached the third floor, she wandered around for a few minutes until she found the room she was looking for. There was a narrow window on the door, so Beca decided to peek in. She saw Stacie sitting alone at the table in the room with a number of open books spread out around her. Beca watched as Stacie's finger skimmed along a sentence in one book, getting an excited look in her eyes she grabbed another book and read a few sentences (at least her eyes moved back and forth a couple of times) before she smiled and wrote something down on the paper in front of her.

Beca knocked lightly on the door, startling Stacie. When Stacie got over her scare, her eyebrows furrowed when she saw Beca through the window. She got up and walked over to the door, opening it with a sheepish look on her face and standing aside to let Beca in.

Beca set her bag on the corner of the table as she watched Stacie go back to her chair and sit down. Beca waited for Stacie to say something, but it looked like she wasn't going to start this conversation. Beca started with, "I thought you had a date tonight?"

Stacey smirked, "I didn't lie, I do have a date tonight, with this homework set."

Beca laughed, "Oh, that's good. So, how long have you been coming here for dates? The librarian downstairs implied that you are a regular around here."

Stacie shrugged, "I've been coming here to study since our freshman year. I've pretty much got a lock on this room Monday and Thursday evenings."

Beca looked surprised, "Oh, I didn't know you had to study that much. Which science are you majoring in?"

Stacey's look of surprise matched Beca's, "Chemistry, but how did you know I was majoring in science?"

Beca laughed, "Well besides the sciencey books on the table, I saw you walk into the science building empty handed and walk out with your backpack. I figured you'd have your stuff in a building that your major was located."

Stacie laughed back, "Impressive Mitchell, are you sure you don't want to switch to a science major?"

Beca smirked, "No thanks, I'll stick with something I can handle, like music and management."

Stacie quickly looked down at her paper and then back up to Beca, her forehead creasing just the slightest bit. Beca suddenly looked shocked, "Oh shoot, I'm sorry. I'll stop bothering you and let you get back to your assignment." She turned to leave. As her hand rested on the doorknob, she shyly turned to Stacie, "Ummm, Stacie?"

Stacie looked up from her homework, "Yes Beca?"

Beca looked down at her shoes, "Would you mind if I worked in here with you? I can't seem to get anywhere on my English assignment and maybe working in here would help."

Stacie smiled and grabbed one of her books from her side, making room for Beca on the table, "On one condition." Beca nodded for her to continue, "That this stays between you and me. I mean it, I don't want anyone knowing about this. Please."

Beca shrugged, "Whatever you say, Legs." She sat down across the table from Stacie, a few seats down from directly across from her, so Stacie still had enough room for all of her books. Beca quietly got out her laptop and sat back to think. It was slow going, but eventually she started to type. Once she got started, the words just seemed to flow out of her. She'd hit small blocks, and then she'd lean back in her chair and look at the ceiling, or she'd look over at Stacie, who looked kind of cute with her nose scrunched as she thought hard about something right before her pencil would move frantically across the paper. As her mind would relax, the words she was looking for would find their way into her brain and she would continue on her assignment.

When Beca finally finished her assignment, she looked down at her phone. It was just after 10:30 p.m. Not bad, a little over three hours to finish her assignment. She leaned back and stretched, looking over at Stacie, "How's it going over there, Stace?"

Stacie sat up, mirroring the smaller girl's stretch, "Not too bad. I think I'm over two thirds done. I shouldn't have waited until the night before it was due. I'm usually more on top of my homework than this."

Beca stood as she started packing her things up, "Well, you need a break. Studying for long periods of time without a break is counterproductive." As Stacie looked at her with furrowed brows Beca continued, "Seriously, it is. A science geek like yourself should know that."

Something crossed Stacie's face when Beca said science geek, but it quickly disappeared behind a smirk, "Oh course I know that, I'm just surprised that you do. I didn't even know you studied."

Beca gave a play scowl, "Oh ha ha. Come on, I'll buy you a coffee or soda or something. You need to get out of this room for ten or fifteen minutes and then you can come back and finish."

Stacie shrugged, getting up and stretching again, "Fine, you can buy me some juice. I'll never sleep tonight if I have coffee this late." Beca smiled at her friend and held the door open for her as they walked out into the library.

After Beca got herself a coffee and Stacie her juice with a muffin (Beca insisted she eat something), they sat and talked for a few minutes about various Bella items, the new set, some ideas on choreography, the new girl Flo. When Stacie finished her muffin, she stood up and smiled at Beca, "Thanks for the break, I really did need that."

Beca smiled back, "No problem, thanks for letting me study with you. I haven't been that productive on an assignment," she paused thinking, "well in ever."

Stacie chuckled, "Well I'm glad it helped you out." She started to head for the door and then suddenly stopped and turned back to Beca, an almost pleading look on her face, "And please don't tell the other Bellas about this."

Beca grabbed her backpack and walked towards the taller girl, squeezing her hand as she passed by, "Don't worry Stace, I promised you I wouldn't. So I won't, trust me."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So, a) I've made it realistic in actually using some things from a physical chemistry course and b) the quantum mechanics that Beca makes fun of at the end of this chapter is actually beyond an undergraduate chemistry course (usually) but I so wanted to make fun of the equations.

Disclaimer: I don't own PP or PP2.

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A week came and went. Stacie was relieved when nothing was brought up about where she was Thursday night. It wasn't that she didn't trust Beca, she did, implicitly. But things slip with as close as Beca and Chloe were, things might just get brought up. So here she was, grabbing the key to room 312 again on a Thursday night. She smiled at Olivia, the librarian on duty, as she took the key. She got settled in the room, her chemistry books open and ready when there was a tentative knock at the door. She looked up and then smiled as she saw Beca standing there, her face pressed up against the window making a goofy face. She got up and opened the door, letting the smaller brunette in. Beca just breezed by her and set her bag next to the same chair she sat in last week, "Well, I was so productive last week that I thought I might give this library studying a go. You don't mind, do you? I mean, if I'm cramping your studying style I can go. I mean, I don't want to bother you, but it was nice last Thursday."

Stacey cut her off, "Beca, hush. You're rambling. Of course it's alright for you to work in here." She went and sat back at her spot, "Besides, I liked having someone else in here. The room didn't feel so empty."

Beca smiled, pulling her stuff out of her bag and getting situated. The girls worked in a comfortable silence, the only sounds being the moving of pages, a pencil across paper or the occasional clicking of keys being pressed on Beca's laptop. After about an hour and a half of working, Beca let out a long sigh and leaned back in her chair, stretching. She looked over at Stacie, "What are you working on?"

Stacie finished writing something before she looked up at Beca, "It's Physical Chemistry. We're on thermodynamics right now."

Beca stood up and walked over behind Stacie, looking over her shoulder. She looked at the paper and gave a shrug that Stacie couldn't see, "Looks like some kind of code to me. It's just a bunch of numbers separated by G's, H's, T's and S's. What does that stand for, Gosh That's Hard, Stacie?" Beca smiled at her joke.

Stacie chuckled, "No silly. The letters are different thermodynamic values and the numbers are their values. Oh, and the T is for temperature."

Beca looked closer at the paper, "Ummm Stacie, if T is for temperature, where does it ever get to be almost 300 degrees?"

Stacie laughed outright, then saw Beca's crestfallen look, "Oh I'm so sorry Beca, I wasn't laughing at you. I was just remembering how different chemistry can be from what we use in our everyday life and I thought it was funny." Beca seemed to be placated a bit by that explanation. Stacie continued, "That temperature is in Kelvin. You've heard of absolute zero?" Beca nodded. Stacie continued, "Well zero Kelvin is absolute zero. So 298 Kelvin is about 75 degrees Fahrenheit."

Beca gave a sigh, "How do you make sense of all that?" She pointed at the paper and her books.

Stacie smiled, walking over to Beca's bag and pulling out some music sheets with Beca's scribbling on them, "How do you put all of these together to make something that sounds awesome?"

Beca shrugged, "I just do."

Stacie smiled, "Exactly."

Beca laughed, "Touché, Legs. How about we take a break and I buy you another juice?"

Stacie looked over at the homework on the table and then at the grinning brunette next to her, "Sure, but it's my turn to buy."

Beca shrugged, "Like I'm going to turn down free coffee."

Stacie smiled, and as she opened the door for Beca to walk out she quietly said, "I'm glad you decided to come study here."

Beca put her hand on the hand Stacie had on the doorknob, giving it a small squeeze as she walked by, "So am I Stace."

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Thursday nights in the library became their thing. Stacey would show up on 'her date' at 7:00 p.m in room 312 of the library. Beca would show up anywhere from five to fifteen minutes later. The girls working in silence most of the time, but on those nights that they didn't have a lot of pressing homework, they would talk. Sometimes they'd talk about the Bellas, other times they'd talk about the current series they were watching on Netflix, but they seemed to have an unspoken agreement to never delve too deep into each other's personal lives.

Beca started paying more attention to Stacie at the house. She noticed the taller brunette would always look a little uncomfortable when someone would bring up all of her dates. She would also get this slightly panicked look when someone would talk about all of her sexual escapades. She hid it well, but Beca had spent enough time with her now and she was paying attention. She wondered why, when Stacie had always appeared to be so forthcoming with her sexuality. Beca also started to make a game out of Stacie's dates, trying to guess which ones were actual dates and when she was going to hang out in the library and study. That's how she found herself outside room 312 one Friday evening.

Stacey had gone out for her date and Beca smirked as she walked out the door, "Date, my ass," she thought to herself. About an hour later, she made some excuse about needing to go to the store for chips and soda. She wrote down the list of things the Bellas screamed at her as she was going out the door so she wouldn't forget them. Instead of going right to the store, Beca stopped at the library first. She knocked on the door to the room and Stacie looked up and smiled at her through the window.

Stacie opened the door, "What are you doing here Becs?"

Beca handed her a USB key, "I made you a mix to listen to while you study. I didn't know if you could focus or not if you have music on but it helps me sometimes. I thought you might like some of this stuff, it's not too heavy and it's a little more on the instrumental side so you don't really have to pay attention. Oh God, I'm rambling again."

Stacie took the USB key from her, "I can't always listen to music when I study, but I think this might just be what I need for those times that I can."

Beca scoffed, "You haven't even heard it yet."

Stacie winked, "But you made it, so I know it will be just what I need. You've seen me studying so I trust you."

Beca blushed at the compliment, "Well I know how hard you work at this, I didn't want you to get too stressed out. I thought some music might help."

Stacie pulled the smaller girl in for a hug, which Beca surprisingly returned, "Well thank you Beca, I think this will be a perfect stress reliever."

Beca looked over at Stacie's books, looking like she wanted to say more. Instead, she pulled back from the taller girls and stepped back into the doorway, "Well it looks like you have some alphabet soup to get back to and I have a list of things that the Bellas just had to have when they found out I was going to the store."

Stacie chuckled, "The store, huh?"

Beca smirked, "Well I couldn't tell them I was coming to check on you in the library, now, could I?"

Stacie shrugged, "Guess not. Hey, would you grab me some barbeque chips when you're at the store, I'm all out at the house."

Beca grimaced, "You too? Fine, I'll get you your damn chips, but you owe me Conrad."

Stacie laughed, "Yah, yah Mitchell. I'll owe you, whatever."

Beca was grinning from ear to ear as she let the door close behind her so Stacie could finish her studying.

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The end of the semester was just around the corner and both girls were meeting in the library three nights a week as they were trying to get everything finished up before finals. One night as they were sitting there, Beca was surprised out of her thoughts when Stacie groaned and hit the table before pushing her books back, "I'm never going to get this shit!" Beca looked over at the frustrated girl with a raised eyebrow to which Stacey sheepishly responded, "Ooops, sorry." She pulled her books back around her and started writing again before looking at another book and writing some more. Beca watched her work for a few seconds before going back to her paper. Stacie didn't last five minutes before she dropped her head on the table with an exasperated sigh.

Beca smirked as she got up and walked around the table, stopping behind the taller girl and rubbing her shoulders. Stacie groaned without lifting her head from the table, "Fuck that feels good. This quantum mechanics has really got me stressed out. I'm never going to get it."

Beca kept rubbing, taking a look over her shoulders at the papers spread out in front of the taller girl, "Hmmm, let's see, maybe I can help…it looks like you are working on Shrek."

Stacie snorted into the table as she peered back over her shoulder, "Shrek huh? How do you get that?"

Beca worked her thumbs into a knot in Stacie's shoulder for which she received a groan, "Well, that upside down triangle looks a bit like Shrek and he's missing an ear. If he had a two on both sides, he'd have both of his ears. And then there are all of the letter villagers with pitchforks running around trying to get him. See, and that one is trapped on the other side of the fence, or maybe he's safe over there." She finished her thought pointing at the equals sign in the equation.

Stacie pulled her head up out of her hands and looked at the equation she was working on and started laughing, real laughter, "Oh my God Beca, only you would see that in the three dimensional time-independent Schrödinger equation. Dammit, now I can't unsee it."

Beca smiled at the laughing girl as she walked back to her spot, "My work here is done."

Stacie smiled at the small alt girl across from her, a warm feeling spreading inside her.

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A/N: I know you aren't technically supposed to put notes at the top and bottom, but I didn't want to put the equation at the top – a simplified version of it looks something like

∆2Ψ + VΨ = EΨ except flip the triangle (I couldn't find the symbol for it in Word).


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I've really got nothing for the notes today – enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own PP or PP2

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The next week, Beca arrived for their study session a few minutes past seven, but the room was dark and locked. With her brows furrowed, worried a little bit because Stacie wasn't there yet, she went back downstairs and stopped at the desk. She smiled at the librarian, she thought her name was Olivia, and asked for the key to room 312. The lady grabbed the key for her, "Is it just you tonight?"

Beca shrugged, "She didn't call or anything, so I assume she's just running late."

Olivia handed her the key, "Well, you two look good together and I haven't seen Stacie this happy, well since she started coming to the library."

Beca started, "We're not…," but the smile on the librarian's face stopped her, "We're not 'official' yet, so…"

Olivia laughed, "Oh don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

Beca internally shrugged as she took the key and gave the librarian her best smile. When she got back up to the room, she put her bag down in its normal spot but didn't sit. She was still pacing the room nervously when Stacie showed up five minutes later.

When Stacie knocked on the door, Beca quickly walked over and opened it. She was trying hard not to seem worried, but she rushed out, "Where have you been? It's like 7:15."

Stacie smirked, "Worried I'd stand you up for our date?"

Beca looked sheepish, "Ummm, no, but you've never been late before. I thought maybe you had gotten mugged or killed or something. You do have your rape whistle, right?"

Stacie walked up next to her and wrapped her arm around her shoulders, "You are so cute when you worry about me. But I'm fine, my instructor was in late grading and I stayed to pick up my assignment when she finished with it."

Beca looked at her quizzically while internally she breathed a sigh of relief, "Your Shrek assignment?"

Stacie chuckled, "Yes, the Shrek assignment, silly," then seemed to vibrate internally as she pulled out the paper and dropped it onto the table in front of Beca.

Beca looked down at the big red 98/100 on the paper, then she looked at Stacie who was bouncing up and down, a big grin on her face. She squealed (quietly of course, this was a library), "Oh my God Stacie, that's awesome!" as she pulled the taller girl into a hug. Stacie melted into the hug, enjoying the feel of this girl who had become someone that meant so much to her.

Beca pulled back just a little, holding Stacie out at arm length, "Stacie, you're like really smart, aren't you. I mean I knew you were smart when we met, and then when I found you here I pretty much knew you were smarter than I initially thought, but you are like _really_ smart aren't you?"

Stacie thought Beca was so cute when she rambled like that and for once, she thought she wanted to be honest with someone instead of sidestepping the issue. She pointed to a chair and then sat in the one next to it, pulling it out from the table so she could sit facing Beca. Beca sat down, waiting for Stacie to start at her own pace.

Stacie looked down at her hands, then up at Beca. She seemed to study Beca, looking into her eyes, almost as if she were judging her to see if she was worthy of this information. In reality, Stacie was just trying to give herself a pep talk, telling herself that Beca wouldn't be like the others and make fun of her. Finally, she gave herself a little shake and started, "Well to answer your question: yes, I am really smart. And before you can ask your next question, my IQ was tested at 146 which technically places me in the genius category." As she finished, Stacie was looking down at her hands, almost like she was embarrassed.

Beca grabbed Stacie's hands excitedly, "Oh my God Stacie, that's so awesome. Why didn't you tell me before? Why are you trying to hide how smart you are? Do you know how awesome you are?"

Stacie looked up at Beca in surprise, then she was even more surprised when she broke out in tears. Beca looked confused just before she pulled the taller girl in for a hug, rubbing her back as she spoke soothingly to her, "Shhhh, it's ok Stace. Everything's going to be alright. Tell me what I said that made you cry and I'll take it back, I promise."

Stacie pulled back suddenly, looking somewhat hurt, "Don't you dare take any of that back, Beca Mitchell."

Beca looked even more confused, "I thought…well you were crying…I'm usually saying the wrong thing, I just figured I did it again."

Stacie shook her head, wiping the tears off of her cheeks, "You're rambling again, Mitchell."

Beca smirked, "Yah, but you think I'm cute when I ramble."

Stacie chuckled, "I said you were cute when you worry, not when you ramble."

Beca squeezed her hand, "So ok, what were the waterworks all about?"

Stacie grimaced as she squeezed Beca's hand back, "I'll tell you the whole story, but please let me finish and I think you'll get all of your answers." Beca just nodded, worried that speaking may scare the other brunette into stopping.

Stacie sighed, "Alright, this goes all the way back to middle school." Stacie pulled her hands from Beca's, waving them up and down her body, "I didn't always have all this." She smirked as she tried her best to imitate Chloe. Beca chuckled at that. Stacie took Beca's hands back in hers as she continued, "I was a small, awkward girl with ratty pigtails, which was fine in elementary school, but when middle school came around and the other girls started to develop and I didn't…well, let's just say that middle school boys can be mean. To make matters worse, I was the class nerd. I was good at everything I did. I scored the highest on every exam and the teacher's loved me, which meant the other students hated me, of course."

Stacie pulled her hands from Beca's, standing up and moving to the window that looked out over campus, "When I finally did start to develop, I grew up but not out." She turned to see Beca looking at her with her brows furrowed. She gave the smaller girl a small smile, "I grew eight inches over the summer between 7th grade and 8th grade, but I didn't fill out. So I had the body of a little girl that was five feet nine inches tall. My coordination didn't grow with my body, so I was this awkward, lanky nerd. To make matters even worse….braces." She saw Beca make a face and Stacie chuckled at it, "Exactly."

Stacie sighed as she came back to sit down again, "So, let's just say my social life was even worse in the 8th grade and my freshman year of high school. But it wasn't all bad, I found music in middle school and I had some great science teachers that encouraged my interest. But it was lonely, I was too smart to fit in with the other girls in choir and too awkward for boys to pay attention to me. I even intimidated the other 'smart kids'."

Beca looked like she was going to say something, so Stacie put her finger to Beca's lips, "Shhh, let me finish, it feels good to finally talk about this to someone." Beca just nodded as Stacie looked up at the ceiling, seeming to think for a few seconds, "Then I started to fill out. It happened slowly, unlike my vertical growth spurt. But by my junior year, I looked pretty much like this. Well you can imagine that I started to get some attention from the boys," she smirked at Beca, "and some of the girls. Well, I thought I was in heaven. People were finally starting to pay attention to me. But it was still high school. I had girls asking me to sit with them during study hall. I had boys asking me to go out with them. It seemed like everyone wanted to be my friend."

Stacie's expression turned sour, "I went on a few dates and then one of the starters from the basketball team asked me out. He asked _me_ out. So we went out and I thought we had fun. So he asked me out again, and again. After a few dates, we started going steady. I thought I had died, I was going steady with a gorgeous guy. After a couple of months he started to pressure me a little about having sex with him, but I figured that was normal. All the girls I sat with talked about having sex, so everyone must be doing it, right? So, I finally gave in and had sex with Roger. It hurt and he didn't even stop to see if I was alright. The next day he pretty much ignored me, same with the next day. When I finally confronted him about it he laughed at me. He actually laughed at me. He said he just wanted to be the first one to sleep with me. Then he gave me some advice, 'You'll never keep a guy if you keep talking about all of that nerdy stuff on dates.' I ran home and cried myself to sleep that night." She reached up and wiped the lone tear that trailed down her cheek away.

Beca leaned forward and took Stacie's hands in hers, running her thumb over the back of her hand. Stacie gave her a strained smile, "About a week later, I was in the bathroom when I heard some girls come in. I heard my name as they walked in, so I pulled my feet up off the floor. I don't know why I did it, but I did. I listened to them making fun of me and talking about how Roger said I was a dead fish in bed. One of the girls told them all to hush, it wasn't nice and besides if I ever found out I might stop doing all of their homework for them. They all got a good laugh about that. I sat there shaking until they left. I waited about five more minutes before I had stopped shaking enough to actually leave the bathroom."

Stacie chuckled to herself, "At least I got those bitches back. Over the next week, whenever they would ask for help on their homework I would give them wrong answers." Beca couldn't suppress her laugh, to which Stacie smiled, "I wish I had longer than a week, but then the grades started coming in and they knew something was up because there was no way Stacie Conrad would get that many wrong. When one of them confronted me about it I just laughed and told them that they should check the bathroom stalls before they talked shit about someone."

Stacie looked down at the girls' linked hands, it was almost as if she were ashamed to keep talking. She nodded to herself and kept going, speaking quietly with her head still down so Beca had to lean forward to hear her, "And that's when 'the Hunter' was born. I decided that if that's all guys wanted was sex and that getting attached to people was going to hurt you in the long run that I wouldn't do it. I would be just like a high school boy, just after sex on my terms, no commitments. I had the looks to get who or what I wanted and I learned to use those looks. And that catches you up to when I got to Barden."

Beca pulled the taller girl into a hug, "Can I talk now?" Stacie nodded against her shoulder. Beca sighed, "First, I'm so sorry Stace, nobody should have to go through that. But why don't you let the Bellas see how smart you are?"

Stacie sighed against her shoulder, not letting go of smaller girl, "Shit, I forgot that part of the story. Well, with my body developing I started to get more solos and I even got the lead part in the school musical. Well that just seemed to make the other girls even more mad at me so I asked them why they were so mad at me. One of them just looked at me and screamed at me, 'We don't want you here. You are good at everything else why can't you let us have this?' I just left the room. I didn't give up singing, but after that I just kept to myself in choir, just like everywhere else."

Beca felt the tears falling down her cheeks, she couldn't stop them. There's no way this special girl should have had to go through all of that. But that didn't fully answer her question, "But why didn't you trust the Bellas?"

Stacie sighed, "I've just been burned so many times that I didn't want to lose this. I love the Bellas and I don't think I could handle it if I lost them. So it was just easier to be the Stacie that the Bellas know than risk letting them see all of me."

Beca squeezed the other girl even harder, "Well I think you're perfect just the way you are. Just perfect."

Stacie cried into Beca's shoulders, not realizing how much she wanted to hear those words from the smaller girl.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Well here is the second part of the girls' talk. There might be a little angst left in this one after this chapter, but it should be fairly smooth sailing from here on out (I think, maybe).

Disclaimer: PP and PP2 are not owned by me, at all, not one bit.

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Beca sat back and brushed the hair back from Stacie's face, pushing a stray strand behind her ear. She sighed, "I think I want to ask you something, but before I do I think it's only fair that I tell you my story." Stacey wiped the remnants of the tears from her face with a quizzical look at the small brunette.

Beca smiled at her confused expression, "Well, you don't think I got to be this bundle of pent up joy with rainbows and sunshine shooting out of my ass overnight, did you?" Stacie couldn't help herself, she tried to hold it in, but that made it worse when the laugh actually came out. So instead of responding, she just shook her head.

Beca smiled at the other girl's response, then she got a serious expression, "I think you already know some of this, but I'm going to start at the beginning anyway. My life isn't that exciting so this shouldn't take too long."

Beca got up from the chair and stood at the window, much like Stacie had done earlier. Stacie looked at Beca's back, watching the tension creep into the smaller girl as she stood there, waiting for her to start. Beca started talking without turning around, "When I was a little girl, I thought we had the perfect family. My daddy went to teach college kids about books and my mom gave private piano lessons. At first I didn't notice that my dad wasn't home to tuck me in every night, but when it became three or four nights a week I did notice and I asked my mom about it. She just told me that 'Daddy had to work late, he's trying to get tenure,' but she had this sad look in her eyes. I remember nodding at my mom, like I understood what tenure was. It turns out he wasn't working late to get tenure, he was having an affair with another faculty member. He came home one night in May and told my mother he was leaving her. He had accepted a job, here at Barden, and was going with the woman he loved. He took me aside and told me that he was sorry that he was leaving like this but to remember that he loved me always. It seemed like he tried at first, calling me a few times a week. But then the calls got less and less frequent until they stopped completely by the fall." Stacie's heart went out to the smaller girl as she told her story, Beca's face emotionless in the reflection off the window.

Beca turned from the window, looking at Stacie. She didn't want to tell this story, but she knew she needed to. She needed Stacie to understand her, she wasn't quite sure why, but she needed her to. So she went against every instinct that was telling her to run away, again, and walked back to her chair. She sat back down across from Stacie and took the other girl's hands in hers, "To say my mother was devastated would be an understatement. She had loved that man with everything she had and when he left it destroyed her world. She withdrew from everyone, including me. Luckily my aunt and uncle lived in the same town and they helped us out. They would make sure that there was food in the house, that my mom paid the bills, things like that. She never said it, but I always got the feeling that my mom blamed me for my dad leaving. It was probably my nine year old imagination, but I actually started to believe that he left because of me, that it was my fault that my dad was gone and my mom was crying all the time." By the time she finished, Beca was sobbing. Stacie pulled her into a hug, her hand rubbing over Beca's back, whispering soothing words to the smaller girl.

Beca quickly collected herself, "Dammit, I'm sorry for losing my shit like that Stace."

Stacie wiped tears from Beca's cheeks with her thumbs, "Shhh, nothing to apologize for Becs, nobody should have to go through that alone, much less a nine year old. Besides, you had to console me about my shitty childhood, so turnabout is fair play."

Beca smiled weakly at that before continuing, "Well I think that's about the time that I started to get the mindset that if love hurt that much, there was no way I was ever going to fall in love. Pretty shitty mindset for someone who hasn't even hit their teens yet."

Beca took Stacie's hands back in hers, her thumb lazily moving in circles on the back of the other girl's hand. She sighed, "I might have come back into the land of the romantics, but fate just had other plans for me I guess. My mother finally came out of her shell after about two years, and after another two years she started dating again. She had been dating this guy for a few weeks, always meeting him wherever they were going out. One night he came to pick her up and I answered the door. He looked at me in complete surprise and asked who I was. I told him I was Mary's daughter and he just about flipped his shit right there. Apparently she hadn't told him about me yet. They had an argument right there in the entryway about it and he left furious. Apparently kids were not part of his equation. Well, as you can imagine, this only reinforced my belief that my dad left because of me, because I'm damaged goods."

Stacie pulled Beca into a hug again, "Shhh, don't you ever say that Beca Mitchell, you are not damaged goods."

Beca smirked, giving her best infomercial voice, "But wait, there's more." Stacie chuckled as she sat back, nodding for the other girl to continue.

Beca resisted the urge to get up and distance herself from this girl who had broken through her emotional barriers like no other. Sure Chloe could get some things from her and she pushed through some of Beca's walls, but Beca still hadn't fully let the redhead in. She still held back, just not as much as with the rest of the world. But Stacie had gotten through everything somehow and Beca wasn't quite sure how. Maybe it was just the fact that she accepted her into her little world in the library without question, without expectations. But here she was, letting all of her emotional baggage out, hoping that the gorgeous girl sitting across from her would still see her for her when she was done.

Instead of getting up, she took Stacie's hands in hers again. She had to admit, she liked the feel of Stacie's hands in hers. She looked at Stacie and could see the hurt in her eyes, hurt for what Beca had to go through and it gave her the courage to finish her story, "Well the last bit of my story happened in high school, my junior year to be exact. I had never kept it a secret that I liked girls but I also didn't go out of my way to make it known. Well there was this girl in the choir who knew I liked to mix and stuff and so she started hanging out with me and asking about how I did it and seemed really interested. We started hanging out together and then we started to date. I fell for her fast and I fell for her hard. Nobody had ever shown me this much attention. Sure I had dated some, but it wasn't anything like this. She was my world. She was almost an exhibitionist, wanting to have sex in the craziest of places but I was so enamored with her I would agree to just about anything. We lasted a couple of months before she broke up with me. Her reason for breaking up – I was an experiment. She wanted to see what it was like to be with a lesbian and I was the only one she knew. I refused to let her see me cry, in fact from that point on I refused to let anyone see me cry. Nobody was worth that kind of pain. Life kept telling me that I wasn't worth loving so I was going to listen."

Beca finished with her head down, looking at their linked hands. She didn't want to look up, scared that she would see rejection again. Finally she brought her head up. She wasn't expecting Stacie to be right there. Their faces mere inches apart and their eyes locked. Beca didn't see rejection there, she saw hurt, she saw sympathy, she saw hope and she saw something else, but the one thing she didn't see was rejection. It was an impulse, she wasn't expecting to do it this way but she did it anyway. She slowly moved forward the two inches separating them, her lips finding Stacie's to give the taller girl a soft kiss.

Beca pulled back suddenly, expecting the worst. She was used to being rejected, why should this be any different. Stacie saw the panic in the smaller girl's eyes and knew she had to fix it somehow, so she did what she's wanted to do for the past few weeks. Her hand slipped behind Beca's neck and pulled her back in for another kiss. This one started soft like the first, but then became more heated as Stacie's tongue flicked along Beca's lower lip. Beca's lips opened in invitation and Stacie's tongue slipped between them, teasing Beca's tongue with her own. Both girls pulled back panting after a couple of minutes, looking shyly at each other, not quite knowing what came next.

Stacie broke the silence, hoping she was right in what she was expecting, "You said you wanted to ask me something earlier, what was it?"

Beca smiled shyly at her, "Well, ummm, given what just happened I hope I know the answer, but would you like to go out on an actual date with me sometime?"

Stacie brushed her thumb over Beca's cheek, "I would love to go out with you Beca Mitchell. But why did you have to tell me all of that just to ask me out?"

Beca sighed, "Well I know I have issues and I thought that maybe if you knew why I had issues that maybe you'd understand how I acted sometimes. It doesn't excuse it, but if you understood maybe you'd give me a chance? Because for some reason I really want a chance with you Stacie. I think you are great and I want to see where we can go and…"

Beca trailed off as she looked at Stacie sitting there smiling at her, "You're rambling again Mitchell." Beca couldn't help but smile back as Stacie leaned in for another kiss, "And yes, you are cute when you ramble."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I've been trying to figure out how angsty to make it with Chloe...there's at least a little here, but how much more is still waiting for my fingers to decide :)

Disclaimer: Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2 are not mine.

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The two girls decided it was best to keep their date a secret from the other Bellas for the time being. It wasn't that they were ashamed or that they didn't think the other girls would be happy for them (although, while Becca could be a little clueless about Chloe, Stacie was a little worried about how the redhead would take it), they didn't want the added pressure of the girls' expectations adding to their growing relationship. The teasing was also something they figured they could do without, at least for a little while.

So they decided to keep with tradition and have their date on Thursday night. They followed their normal routine, right down to meeting in room 312 of the library. Stacie smiled when Beca finally arrived, well finally is an understatement as she actually showed up at 7:05 p.m. but Stacie was so excited she had shown up fifteen minutes earlier, so it seemed like it took forever. When Beca knocked on the door, Stacie opened it and let the smaller brunette in. Beca promptly pulled Stacie in for a soft kiss before asking her if she was ready. Stacie just nodded and took her hand as they walked back out the door.

As they walked back through the lobby of the library, hand in hand, Beca saw the librarian smiling at them. As they walked up to the front desk to turn the key in, Beca smiled back at the Olivia, "We still aren't fully 'officially' out yet, so…" Olivia put her fingers to her mouth and pantomimed locking her lips and throwing away the key. Beca winked at her, "Thank you." Stacie just looked between the two with a confused look on her face to which Beca just squeezed her hand, "I'll explain later."

The girls walked hand in hand a few blocks off campus to a small, family-owned Italian restaurant. The girls slipped into easy conversation, talking about their week so far and changes they should make to the set for their performance at Sectionals. Their food finally arrived and the girls stopped talking for a few minutes to enjoy their dishes. Stacie looked over at Beca's plate, she had ordered a four cheese manicotti, "Oh my God Beca, that looks like it could give me lactose intolerance just being in the same room as it."

Beca smirked as she shoveled another bite into her mouth, chewing it and swallowing before replying, "I know right, but it is soooo good. Wanna bite?"

Stacie leaned forward, opening her mouth for a bite. Beca cut a small piece off and carefully fed Stacie the bite. Stacie gave a small moan as she chewed, "God that is good."

Beca smiled, "I know right? So how is yours?"

Stacie held out a bite of her mostaccioli with meat sauce out for Beca, her hand cupped under it to keep it from dripping on the tablecloth. Beca leaned across the table to take the bite and tipped her head back moaning as she swallowed, "Oh that is so good. We need to come here more often."

Stacie gave a small smile and a "Mmmhmmm" as she was internally doing cartwheels, Beca was thinking of them beyond this first date.

The two girls sat arguing over the dessert menu. Beca thought tiramisu would be a better dessert choice while Stacie was arguing for cannoli. Stacie thought she would stack the cards for another date by suggesting, "Ok, this time why don't we get the tiramisu but the next time we come here on a date, we get the cannoli."

Beca smirked at the taller brunette, "Are you saying that you'd like to go on another date with me sometime?"

Stacie nodded, almost shyly, which took Beca by surprise because Stacie always seemed so confident about dating, "Well then I'll just have to make sure that I stay on your good side long enough for us to come back to this restaurant for another date."

After settling the check, the two girls decided to take the long way back to campus as it was an unseasonably warm evening for the beginning of December in Atlanta with the temperature still hovering around 60 degrees when they left the restaurant. The girls walked holding hands, talking about this and that. As they started to get close to campus, Beca stopped and turned to Stacie. She looked around to see the area was deserted before she smiled and took a step closer to the taller brunette, her hands sliding around her waist. She gave a small tug to pull the girl the rest of the way to her as she tipped her head up to catch Stacie's lips in a gentle kiss. Stacie's hands seemed to move on their own accord, one slipping around Beca's waist, the other snaking around her neck to pull the smaller girl deeper into the kiss. When they two girls finally broke the kiss, Beca pulled Stacie into a hug, her head resting on the taller girl's shoulder, "Mmm, that just keeps getting better and better. Can we do this again, soon?"

Stacie kissed the top of Beca's head, "Yes Beca, we can most definitely do this again. As soon as possible."

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The next few weeks flew by, with the end of the semester and finals, Bellas' rehearsals and the two girls' date nights. Granted, most of their date nights were as they had been all semester, the girls meeting in room 312 of the library to study. Beca still spent most of her time across the table from Stacie, because that girl really liked to spread out when she studied and she found that she couldn't keep herself from touching the other girl if she sat next to her. But the girls still found time to cuddle, hold hands, talk, and yes, kiss, during their study sessions, so it wasn't all bad.

The girls still found time to go out on actual dates. Sometimes it was just grabbing a quick burger before heading to the library. Other times it was more 'official' and they would actually go out for dinner and do something other than sing or study. Stacie's favorite date so far was when Beca took her to an indoor miniature golf course. They had a blast and Stacie really didn't mind feeling Beca's body pressed up against hers as the smaller girl tried to show her how to putt properly.

Keeping their budding relationship a secret from the Bellas was having a toll on them, however. While the two girls had been starting to spend more time together before they started dating, they spent even more time together after. One Bella in particular noticed that they were spending more time together and she wasn't too keen on it. Chloe was used to Beca spending all of their free time together and now Stacie was taking away some of her Beca time. That's what led to the first indication that there were issues with keeping things secret from the Bellas.

The girls were having their usual Saturday night Netflix binge. Beca was walking over to take the open spot next to Stacie when she was pulled down to sit next to Chloe. She looked over at Stacie sheepishly and shrugged as if to say, "What are you going to do, it's Chloe?" Stacie shrugged but there was a look of hurt in her eyes. That would have been the end of it, except as they were finishing their second episode of 'Orange is the New Black' of the night, Chloe pulled Beca into her lab and cuddled into her. Stacie suddenly got up, excusing herself because she wasn't feeling well. Nobody really paid much attention, giving the brunette some 'Feel better's and 'Sleep well's as she walked out of the room. Nobody except Beca that is. She saw the look of hurt in Stacie's eyes as she walked out of the room. She gave her a few minutes to get settled in her room before she slid out of Chloe's arms, "I'll be right back, I just want to check on Stacie quick."

Chloe just nodded with a "Mmmhmm," without looking away from the t.v.

Beca knocked softly on Stacie's door. The taller girl looked up with tears in her eyes as Beca asked, "Can I come in?" Stacie nodded and made room for the other girl on her bed. Beca sat down and pushed the hair back from Stacie's face, pushing a few stray strands behind the brunette's ear. Beca sighed, "You know that I had nothing to do with that, right?"

Stacie nodded but didn't look convincing as she responded, "I know, but I think she likes you. And it's Chloe, how do I stand a chance against Chloe?"

Beca stood up and closed the door, coming back to the bed to bring Stacie into a tight hug, "Baby, I'm with you, not Chloe. And it doesn't matter what Chloe does, I'll still choose you. You are the one I have feelings for, not Chloe." She pulled back from the other girl just a bit, using her thumb to wipe the tears off of her cheeks, "You don't have anything to worry about Stace, I'm not going anywhere. Face it, you're stuck with me."

Stacie smiled through her tears, pulling Beca into a soft kiss. As she laid her head on Beca's shoulder she whispered, "Good, 'cause I'm not going anywhere either."

The second indication that there were issues with keeping things a secret happened during a Bellas rehearsal. Cynthia Rose was just being Cynthia Rose, making small passes at Stacie. But when she got handsy with the leggy brunette, Beca snapped at Cynthia Rose, "If you can't keep your mind on the rehearsal, what are we even doing here? Maybe we should just let the two of you get a room." Cynthia Rose looked taken aback when her small captain snapped at her while Stacie just looked at Beca with a hurt expression. Cynthia Rose just stuttered, "Sorry Cap, I'll focus on rehearsing." Beca muttered, "Thank you," while turning and walking away.

Stacie cornered Beca after rehearsal. Looking around to make sure nobody would overhear, she harshly whispered, "What the hell Beca? You know I had nothing to do with that, right?"

Beca looked sheepish, "I know, but when I saw her hands on you I just kinda lost it."

Stacie smiled, "So you were jealous?" Beca just nodded. Stacie laughed, "Well at least you are kind of hot when you are jealous," as she pulled the smaller girl in for a deep kiss.

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With Christmas break coming up, the two girls had decided that they would try to get some time for just the two of them. Everyone except Beca was heading home for the holidays. Because Beca's dad lived right there in Atlanta, she was staying in the house to make sure nothing happened over the break. All of the girls were coming back either on the 30th or 31st so that they could all be together to celebrate New Year's Eve together. So Stacie decided she would come back on the 28th, that way she could spend a couple of days with just Beca, nobody else to bother them or for them to worry about.

Beca wanted to do something special for Stacie on the day before she left for break. She tried thinking of things to do with the woman who had wormed her way into Beca's heart. She went through a mental list: karaoke, no they sung all the time; a club, no too crowded; dinner and a movie or show, no too cliché. She was getting frustrated until she stopped to think, what would Stacie like that nobody else would think of? She got out her laptop and after a short search, she came up with the perfect way to spend their last day together before break.

Because Stacie wasn't the last one to leave for break, the girls still needed to be careful for their date. Luckily Ashley and Jessica were leaving early in the afternoon and only Lucy would be left in the house when they got home from their date. So they left the house about a half hour apart that Friday afternoon, meeting up outside the library. Stacie smiled as Beca bounded up to her, hugging her fiercely, "You know I'm really getting tired of sneaking around. We should tell the Bellas soon."

Stacie nodded, "We'll tell them right after New Year's. Let's let everyone get settled in after break and then we can drop this bomb on them." Beca just leaned in and kissed her girlfriend. Stacie took Beca's hand and started walking towards her car, "So, where are you taking me?"

Beca just smirked, "It's a surprise, you'll have to wait and see."

Stacie nudged the smaller girl with her shoulder as they walked, "Meanie."

Beca nudged her back, "Yup, that's me. Miss Meanie."

They got in the car and took off, Beca still giving no hint as to where they were going. About two blocks from their destination, Beca couldn't hide it anymore. The signs pointing the way were too obvious. Stacie just looked at Beca, her mouth agape, "You're taking me to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History?"

Beca got a little nervous with her response, not knowing how to take it, "Ummm, yah, that's ok, right?"

Stacie squealed, hugging the smaller girl causing her to swerve a little, "Oh my God, it's more than alright. It's perfect. I love it Beca, thank you so much!"

Beca sighed internally, "I hoped you'd like it. I wanted to do something that you would really like."

Stacie grinned from ear to ear, "I really like it Beca." Then her smile slipped a little, "But what about you, are you going to have fun?"

Beca took one hand off of the steering wheel to hold Stacie's hand, "I was kind of counting on your excited explanations of everything to make it fun for me."

Stacie squeezed Beca's hand, "Oh, I can handle that. Oh my God Beca, I've been wanting to come here for two and a half years. I've just never had the time."

The two girls spent the afternoon wandering through the museum, Stacie excitedly pointing things out and doing her best to explain some of the displays to Beca. Stacie hoped that the smile that never left Beca's face was an indication that she was actually having fun. Beca for the most part couldn't help but smile at how excited her girlfriend was over just about everything in the museum.

When they finished touring the museum, Beca drove them back to campus. Just before they reached campus proper, Beca parked the car. Stacie hadn't been paying attention to where they were going, instead focusing on the cute brunette sitting next to her. The one that had given her the best date, _ever_. She looked at Beca with a puzzled look as they stopped. Beca just nodded her head in the direction behind Stacie. Stacie turned around and saw that they had stopped outside the restaurant they had gone to for their first official date. She turned to Beca, smiling, "And I didn't think this date could get any better. I guess I was wrong."

Beca smirked at her, "Well I figured that I owed you those cannoli."

The two girls got out of the car and walked to the restaurant hand in hand. The girls had a wonderful meal. Beca had a cheese tortellini with a roasted red pepper sauce while Stacie chose the chicken parmigiana. They capped off their dinner with the cannoli Beca promised. The two girls slowly walked to the car, not wanting the evening to end but Stacie had to leave pretty early in the morning. When they got in the car, the two girls looked at each other and then slowly came together for a tender kiss. Beca broke away, a small sigh escaping her lips, "We should get back before Lily starts to worry about us and before I want to do more than just kiss you." Stacie nodded, her forehead pressed against Beca's. She leaned in and quickly kissed the smaller girl before scooting back over into her seat.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry if this offends anyone, but the rating for this fic is changing to M because of this chapter. I had actually started this chapter for 'But Dude, I Have a Girlfriend" but as I was getting closer to this chapter I knew it really fit this story better. I don't know if I had to go into as much detail as I did, but I think I needed to go into some detail to make it work (imho).

Trueblue28: There's no need to yell at me…I'm doing the best that I can ;) Oh, and I ended it there because a) I wanted to get the update out before I went to bed, b) I just didn't have a tearful goodbye the next morning in me and c) I wanted to end the chapter on a happy note not a sad one.

Remix-this: We are going to have a little chat in the author's notes for the next chapter :P

All the other reviewers: Thank you for taking the time to say a few words about the story, I do appreciate it…and I'm updating as fast as I can!

Rating: M for some lemony goodness and Beca dropping a few f* bombs

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Pitch Perfect of PP2.

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When Stacie finally arrived back at the house after the break, Beca practically tackled her as she walked through the door, "I missed you so much baby."

Stacie smiled into the kiss before pulling back, "Well I missed you too."

The girls spent the afternoon catching up. Stacie told Beca all about Christmas with her family and that she told everyone about her. She informed Beca that they couldn't wait to meet her and that they had suggested doing something over Spring Break together. Beca recapped her break, boring as it was. They alternated between talking, laughing and sharing kisses as they sat on the couch.

They had decided on going out to a club dancing on Stacie's first night back as they could actually enjoy dancing with each other without any of the Bellas getting suspicious or finding out. At about 6 p.m. the two girls finally drug themselves off the couch and out of each other's arms to get ready. Beca was ready first, of course, and as Stacie walked into the living room where Beca waited, the smaller girl was struck speechless. Stacie looked awesome in a sexy little black dress. The dress clung to her in all of the right places and had a few cutouts that showed enough exposed skin to drive Beca crazy. She walked up to her girlfriend and pulled her in for a quick kiss as she muttered, "Wow, you look incredible Stace."

Stacie was thinking the exact same thing about her girlfriend. She had a fairly simple sleeveless red top with lace accents and a curve hugging black miniskirt. Stacie pulled back and let her eyes wander over the smaller girl, "Mmmm, I'm going to have the hottest date at the club tonight." Bea smiled at her for that comment before taking her hand and heading towards the door.

After a quick dinner, the two girls went to one of their favorite clubs. The music was always hot and the drinks weren't too expensive. They slipped into an empty spot at the bar and Beca ordered their drinks. She had barely turned around to order when the first guy walked up to Stacie, asking her to dance. Beca had turned around to say something, but instead she just watched as Stacie looked the guy up and down as though she was thinking about his offer before turning to give Beca a soft kiss, "Sorry, I already have the perfect dance partner." Beca bumped Stacie with her shoulder after the guy had turned away, "Dork."

The girls finished their drinks and then Stacie took Beca's hand and led her to the dance floor. The girls danced most of the night, stopping only occasionally to grab a drink or a glass of water. They only had a few drinks during their evening, not wanting too much alcohol to ruin their first evening back together. As the night progressed, their dancing got needier. Their hands roamed more, their bodies grinding against each other. Finally Beca couldn't take it anymore. She pulled Stacie against her, whispering in her ear, "Let's get out of here. _NOW_." Stacie grabbed Beca's hand and led her towards the door.

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Beca practically drug Stacie into her room when they got back from the club. Beca had been so frustrated at not being able to touch her girlfriend the way she would have liked while they were dancing. She could feel the sexual energy pulsing between them as their bodies were pressed against each other and their hands roamed over mostly safe areas for the public dance floor.

She pulled the taller brunette into the room and then pushed her back against the door as it closed, pressing her body against Stacie's, their lips meeting in a hungry kiss. The two girls fought for dominance with their tongues, hands roaming wherever they could, trying to find bare skin to touch. They broke the kiss when they needed air, Beca's hands sliding up the front of Stacie's body, cupping her firm breasts through her dress as she kissed her neck right below her earlobe and slowly working down to her pulse point, sucking lightly on it as her hands continued to grope at the taller girls body. As Beca slipped her hands back around Stacie's body to cup her sexy ass and pull her tighter against her, her thigh pressing between the taller girl's legs, she leaned in and kissed along the collar bone, working her way to the hollow of Stacie's throat. Stacie gave a low moan as Beca's lips worked their way over her skin.

Stacey was so turned on right now. The way Beca had moved against her on the dance floor made every nerve ending on her body tingle. Now, each time her lips touched her skin, it felt like she was on fire. Her hands involuntarily moved to wrap her fingers in Beca's hair, groaning as the smaller girl's tongue flicked out and licked along the hollow of her throat. Her hips grinding against Beca's thigh. As Beca's hand slid back up to tease her breasts, Stacie panicked. She slid her hands down to Beca's shoulders and gently pushed her back, putting a small amount of space between them. Her face was flushed and she was almost panting as she looked at her girlfriend with a slightly panicked look, "Stop baby, we shouldn't be doing this."

Beca knew that she was the one that asked that they take it slow when they first started dating. But she had told Stacie she was ready for this step before she even left for Christmas break. Even before that though, when things would start to get heated, Stacie would be the one to stop it. And now, even though this was the first time that they were actually alone, no one to interrupt them, nobody to hide from, she was pushing her away. So, just like when her father left her and her mother withdrew into herself, Beca thought there must be something wrong with her. I mean this was Stacie, she loved sex, so why else would she be pushing her away. She steeled herself for the inevitable, thinking it was better to find out now that Stacie couldn't stay with her because there was something wrong with her than for her to fall more in love with the smart, gorgeous, funny brunette standing before her.

So Beca didn't say anything right away, she just looked at the taller girl with a hurt expression. When she finally spoke, it wasn't what Stacie was expecting, "I know you think there's something wrong with me, so why don't we get this over with. Can you please at least tell me what it is before we break up?"

Stacie just stuttered out, "Baby, what are you talking about?"

Tears started forming in Beca's eyes, "You obviously think there's something wrong with me and eventually you'll break up with me over it. So let's just nip this in the bud before either of us gets hurt more."

Stacie pulled her into a tight hug, stroking her hair, "Oh Becs, why would you think that? There's nothing wrong with you, you are perfect baby, just perfect."

Beca sobbed into her shoulder, "Then why do you keep pushing me away? Why don't you want to sleep with me, am I that repulsive?"

Stacie pushed Beca away from her shoulder so she could look into her eyes, "Beca Mitchell, you are definitely not repulsive. I can barely keep my hands off of you."

Beca didn't look convinced, anger slipping into her voice, "Yah right, that's why 'the Hunter' keeps pushing her girlfriend away.'

Stacie sighed, looking over Beca's shoulder before looking back into her eyes, "Promise not to laugh at me if I tell you why I keep pushing you away?"

Beca saw something in Stacie's eyes so she whispered meekly, "Promise, just tell me what's wrong so I can fix it."

Stacey laughed bitterly, "I don't know if you can just fix this Beca." Stacie took Beca by the hand and moved over to the bed, sitting on the edge and patting the mattress next to her for Beca to sit. She finally started, "You already know that before I met you, I had sex on a fairly regular basis, I mean I had 'the Hunter' after all. Well at least through my first year here at Barden." Beca just nodded. Stacie sighed, "Well that's all it was, sex. I never worried about my partner. I was just in it to get myself off. I just assumed that they would be doing the same, but I didn't worry about whether or not they did. I just focused on me." Stacie stopped to bring Beca's hand up to her lips, kissing the back of it before continuing, her voice dropping to a whisper, "I'm scared Beca. I'm scared I'm not going to be able to please you. I've never felt like this before. I want it to be perfect for you and I'm scared that I can't be what you need or want." Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she finished.

Beca wiped the tears from her own eyes as she stood up in front of Stacie, holding her hands out for Stacie to take. She pulled, helping Stacie stand up. Beca then wiped the tears from Stacie's cheeks, giving her a small smile, "Do you trust me?" Stacie nodded at her girlfriend. Beca slowly turned the taller brunette around and unzipped her dress. Then she turned her back around and kissed her lips lightly. She locked eyes with Stacie and then slowly squatted down far enough to grab the hem of Stacie's dress. Never looking away from her girlfriend's eyes, she slowly stood up, bringing the dress up with her. She noticed the slightly panicked look in the Stacie's eyes as the fabric started moving over her stomach. Beca leaned in to kiss those soft, sensual lips again. As she broke the kiss, she whispered, "Please trust me baby." She slowly finished bringing the dress up, Stacie raising her arms to let Beca remove the fabric from her body.

Beca leaned in and kissed along Stacie's neck as she reached around her girlfriend's body to unhook her bra. Stacie self-consciously crossed her arms in front of her, holding the lacy fabric up. Beca gently took her hands and put them down at her sides as she tugged the fabric down her arms, letting it fall on the floor next to her dress. She looked down and her girlfriend's nearly naked body for the first time. Her hand snaked out to cup one of her firm breasts, "Fuck, you are gorgeous Stacie." Stacie just whimpered as Beca rolled one of her nipples between her finger and thumb.

Beca felt the heat between her own legs increase as Stacie moaned at her touch. Fuck, this girl was worried about turning her on? Beca felt like she could cum just by touching her gorgeous body. Beca leaned down and flicked her tongue over one of Stacie's nipples and her hand slipped into her panties, her fingertip slipping between her swollen lips, finding her already slick with her juices. She stood up, looking into her eyes, 'Fuck you are wet Stacie. Do I turn you on that much?" Stacie nodded at the smaller girl, biting her bottom lip before leaning down and kissing her deeply, their tongues fighting for dominance again. Beca heard Stacie's muffled moan as she slipped a finger into her, slowly sliding it in and out.

Beca pulled her finger from inside her girlfriend, stepping back and kneeled in front of her. She slowly slid Stacie's panties down her legs, leaning in to kiss along her hip bone. Beca trailed a few kisses along Stacie's stomach before she stood up and took Stacie's hand in hers. She guided Stacie onto the bed, kneeling over her as her fingers lightly traced over the taller brunettes stomach and up to her breasts. Beca leaned down, kissing Stacie greedily as her fingers teased the other girl's nipples erect.

Beca broke the kiss and moved down to Stacie's jawline, kissing slowly down her long, elegant neck. Her lips followed the hollow in her throat, moving slowly but steadily down her body. As she finally took one of her firm nipples into her mouth, her fingers slid slowly through her lips, feeling her wetness again. Stacie groaned as both erogenous zones were assailed simultaneously. While Beca wanted to spend more time on Stacie's perfect breasts, she wanted to taste the girl more. Her kisses trailed even lower down Stacie's body, her tongue flicking out to tease her belly button as she slid a finger inside of her. Stacie moaned as her hands found Beca's head, her fingers sliding through the silky brown hair, urging her lower.

Beca moved between Stacie's legs, laying comfortably on her stomach as her lips moved to the taller girls thighs. She nipped lightly at the silky flesh as her mouth moved back up to its target. Beca slipped a second finger inside her girlfriend as her tongue finally made contact with Stacie's clit. Beca flicked her tongue lightly over the sensitive bundle of nerves as her fingers slowly worked in and out of the beautiful girl. Stacie's fingers were digging into her scalp, urging her on as her hips rocked into the smaller girl's mouth. Beca sucked lightly on her clit as she hooked her fingers slightly inside of her, rubbing firmly against her front wall each time they slid out. Stacie groaned profanities as Beca's mouth worked magic on her, finally her body tensed before screaming Beca's name as she came. Beca worked her clit gently, drawing out her orgasm until Stacie was too sensitive and pulled Beca up for a deep kiss, tasting herself on the smaller girl's lips.

Stacie caught her breath as she looked at her girlfriend, her fingers tracing lightly over her beautiful face. She smiled shyly at the other girl as she rolled her onto her back and started to slowly unbutton her top. Beca reached up and gently pushed a stray strand of hair back from Stacie's face as the taller girl reached the final button on her top. Stacie turned her head to kiss Beca's palm as her hand slowly made its way from her face. Stacie helped Beca sit up, sliding her shirt off and making quick work of the other girl's bra. As Beca lay back down, Stacie just sat there and drank in the sight of her. Her hand slowly slid up the smaller girl's body until she was cupping her breast. She felt the heft of it before her fingertips found her already erect nipple. Beca moaned as she rolled and tugged on her flesh. Stacie scooted herself down the bed a little and unzipped Beca's skirt, tugging it down her legs along with her panties. Now that she was actually touching Beca, she was in a hurry to taste the beautiful girl.

Stacie slid quickly between her girlfriend's legs, her fingernails lightly tracing up her thighs. Beca squirmed at her touch, her body aching in anticipation. Stacie finally ran her tongue up Beca's slit, feeling it part under the pressure she was applying. As she reached the top, she flicked her tongue, catching Beca's clit. Beca gripped the sheets tightly as she groaned, "Oh fuck Stacie." Hearing Beca swear and seeing how wet she was removed the last of the barriers for Stacie. Her tongue started to lap at Beca's slit, flicking over her clit. She would alternate her licks with sucking lightly on the sensitive bundle of nerves. When she had Beca actually writhing on the bed, she finally slipped two fingers inside of her girlfriend. Beca almost came unglued, pushing her hips off the bed while reaching down with one hand to press Stacie's mouth harder against her body. Stacie felt Beca at the edge, so she sped up her fingers, curling them as Beca had done. Just as Beca screamed that she was going to cum, Stacie sucked firmly on her clit, humming against it. Beca's entire body went tense, pushing Stacie almost painfully against her. Stacie slowly licked and sucked on Beca as her body came down.

As Beca's breathing became more normal, Stacie slid up her body to lay against her. She leaned over and kissed her still panting girlfriend. Beca just looked over at her, "Fuck you Conrad."

Stacie looked at her puzzled, "What?"

Beca smiled, "You were worried about pleasing me, my ass. I don't know if I can take another orgasm like that." Stacie just kissed her girlfriend again before pulling her tightly against her body. Beca wiggled a little bit, getting herself into a more comfortable position against her girlfriend, for once not even a little bit uncomfortable with cuddling.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Alright, the story is pretty much back to a T rating from this point on (at least I don't have any plans for another M chapter). I think there may only be one more chapter in this one, we'll see.

Remix-this: I told you we'd have a talk before this chapter. Thanks for giving away plot points in your reviews, I've been planning that for over 3 chapters now. :P Hopefully I've added enough of a twist on it to keep it a little fresh though.

Notice: PP and PP2 belong to others, not me, not ever so don't even think about it (whatever that means).

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Beca woke up in the morning to find herself spooned around Stacie. She smiled as she breathed in the scent of her hair, she could get used to waking up like this. Her movements must have woken the other girl because she turned in Beca's arms and gave her a long kiss, "Morning baby, did you sleep well?"

Beca kissed her nose, "I haven't slept that well in a long time."

Stacie smiled, cuddling into the smaller girl, her head against her bare chest, "Good, me too."

The two girls lay like that for a few minutes before Beca started squirming a bit. Finally she pushed Stacie a little, "Up baby, I've gotta pee."

Stacie laughed, "Thank God, so do I. I just didn't want to be the one to get up first."

Beca walked over to her dresser pulling out two long t-shirt pajamas. She tossed one to Stacie as she slipped the other one on. She laughed as she looked at her girlfriend. The shirt that went to below mid-thigh on her barely covered anything on the taller girl, "Damn you look hot in my clothes. Meet you in the kitchen? First one there starts the coffee."

Stacie nodded as she headed to 'her' bathroom while Beca went to the one just outside her room. Beca went through her morning routine; washing last night's make-up off, brushing her teeth, running a brush through her hair. She was a little surprised that she beat Stacie down to the kitchen. She started the coffee brewing and then sat at the table, putting her head down in her hands. She didn't get up when her girlfriend came in, so Stacie walked over and gave her a small kiss on the back of her neck. She walked over and grabbed two mugs and filled them with coffee, bringing them back to the table. She set one down in front of Beca as she sat down next to her.

Beca sat up as she smelled the coffee next to her. She took the cup and sipped the hot liquid. Without looking she reached over and took Stacie's hand in hers. When the taller girl laced their fingers together, Beca smiled. Stacie pulled their linked hands up to her mouth, kissing the back of Beca's hand, whispering, "Thank you Beca."

Beca took a small sip before turning to her girlfriend, "For what?"

Stacie shrugged, "For last night. For being patient with me. For understanding. For being you. Take your pick."

Beca used their linked hand to pull the other girl to her, giving her a soft kiss, "Well if we are thanking each other, then thank you."

Stacie gave her a puzzled look, "For what?"

Beca smirked, "Let's just say I couldn't feel my toes for five minutes after you were done with me last night."

Stacie pulled her back in for another kiss, this one deeper. As she pulled back to catch her breath, Stacie tried to give Beca one of her own smirks, "Only five minutes, I can do better than that."

Beca set her mug on the table and stood up. Still holding Stacie's hand, she started walking out of the room, pulling Stacie up from her chair in the process. Stacie laughed, "Where are we going?"

Beca just looked back over her shoulder as she walked, "To let you try to beat five minutes." And damn if Stacie didn't try to beat it.

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The girls spent the 29th just enjoying each other. The spent part of the time in the bedroom, slowly exploring each other's bodies and they spent the rest of the time on the couch, cuddling, talking, and binge watching Netflix while eating popcorn. They talked about telling the Bellas and decided to do it on the 2nd. They figured everyone was going to be too hungover on the 1st to pay attention to anything, so the 2nd it was.

They spent their last night alone reveling in each other's bodies. While their love making the previous day and night had been almost desperate, tonight they took their time, making slow, passionate love, drawing the experience out. Wanting the other to feel every breath, every touch, every soft caress, every kiss. They knew that they wouldn't be alone like this for a while, so they took advantage of it.

They woke early the next morning, much to Beca's dismay. But it wouldn't be good for one of the girls to come in and find the two of them laying in Beca's bed wrapped naked around each other. Stacie unwrapped herself from Beca, who lay there with the most adorable pout, "Do we have to get up? Just five more minutes, pleeeease."

Stacie sighed as she pulled the smaller girl's arms back around her, snuggling back into her warm embrace, "Fine, five more minutes. You're lucky you're cute Mitchell." Beca kissed the top of her head as she wrapped her arms more firmly around her girlfriend thinking she might be more convincing if she wasn't grinning from ear to ear

The two girls finally drug themselves out of bed and Beca started coffee before jumping through the shower. The two girls were dressed, ready and working on their second cup of coffee when Jessica and Ashley arrived back at the house. After that, there wasn't much time for them to be alone with everyone catching up as they arrived. Chloe was the last to arrive back at the house, getting in just after noon on the 31st. When she got through the door, the first thing she did was drop her bags and run to Beca to pull her into a hug. Beca returned the hug but noticed a frown cross her girlfriend's face as she did. She made a note to herself to talk to Stacie about it and remind her that she had nothing to worry about, Beca wasn't going anywhere.

The girls spent the next couple of hours listening to Chloe talk about her break and then she wanted to hear about everyone else's. Because they all wanted to spend some time together, they decided to actually cook dinner instead of ordering in. The kitchen was organized chaos as the girls went about their chores, some cooking, some washing dishes as they were used and others getting the table ready. When it was finished, the girls all sat around the table smiling at each other while they ate. They were all happy to be back together.

After cleaning up the dinner dishes, the Bellas started to get ready for the evening. With only three bathrooms and nine girls, it took a bit of time and organization to get everyone ready in a reasonable amount of time. They met in the living room as everyone finished up. Surprisingly, they actually had fifteen minutes to spare before the Treble's party started. So Amy decided they should start a bit early and toast the New Year by themselves. She pulled out a bottle of whiskey and poured shots for everyone. They held up their glasses as Beca made a toast, "To a New Year full of good friends, good surprises, and happy memories." The girls lifted their glasses and downed their shots, laughing and hugging one another.

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Cynthia Rose was doing one of her favorite things, watching Stacie. She knew she shouldn't be, what with her and Denise starting to talk about possibly giving themselves a second chance. But Stacie was her kryptonite because 'Damn' that girl was hot. Almost immediately upon getting to the party Cynthia Rose noticed a change in Stacie. She was walking around with more confidence, although it was subtle, and it made her even sexier. Everyone might say she was confident before, but it was almost an overcompensating, in your face, confidence. This wasn't that, this was an 'I'm sure about myself and I don't have anything to prove' confidence and damn if it didn't suit her. Cynthia Rose noticed one other thing about Stacie that evening, she didn't really even acknowledge any of the guys trying to hit on her. She just kind of kept to herself or would hang out with the two captains.

Chloe was getting nervous. She had been trying to monopolize Beca the entire evening, and she had pretty much succeeded, except that Beca seemed distracted. She didn't exactly pull away from Chloe, but she didn't melt into the hugs or hold hands like she usually did. That made her nervous because she was going to kiss Beca at midnight to see if there were any sparks between them. They were so close, even closer than even her and Bree were. But she didn't know if that translated into something more. Sometimes she thought it might, but at other times she thought that they were just really good friends. Well tonight she wanted to find out if there might be something more between them because she didn't want to wake up in ten years regretting that she never took the chance to find out. Now, Cynthia Rose was having similar thoughts as Chloe, New Years is a perfect time to kiss someone without any real repercussions.

Someone called out 'One minute to midnight," and Stacie looked across the room at her girlfriend, wishing she could kiss her at the stroke of midnight. Then she looked next to Beca and saw Chloe standing there biting her lower lip looking at Beca. Stacie thought, "Oh hell no, she isn't going to kiss Beca at midnight," and started across the crowded room.

So that's how they found themselves at the stroke of midnight. Chloe turned to Beca right as Stacie walked up and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, pulling her in for a deep kiss. Beca was taken by surprise, but quickly melted into the kiss. When they finally broke for air, Beca looked up at Stacie, "I thought we were going to wait until the New Year to let everyone know."

Stacie smirked at the smaller girl, "Technically it is the New Year."

The other two girls were having completely different reactions, although they stared out looking the same. Both girls' mouths were agape as Stacie pulled Beca in for a kiss. Cynthia Rose then got a big grin on her face before a look of panic appeared. Chloe on the other hand, looked completely shocked. As the kiss ended, Beca heard two things simultaneously.

From Cynthia Rose, "Oh shit Cap, I had no idea. I'm sorry about the other day if I would have known I never would have done that."

From Chloe, "I need some air," her voice sounding like she was about to break down.

As Chloe rushed from the room, Beca turned to Cynthia Rose holding out her hand with her index finger up, "Hold that thought for a minute." She then leaned in and quickly kissed Stacie, "I've got to go after her." As she turned and headed towards the door Chloe had left through she looked back, "And there's no need to be jealous of anything, I love _you_ Stacie Conrad." And then she was gone, leaving a very speechless Stacie behind.

Beca found Chloe sitting on the front steps, crying. Beca sat down next to her and took her hand, just holding it as the redhead cried. Chloe finally looked over at her, "I was going to kiss you tonight, you know?"

Beca turned to her, wiping a tear off of her cheek with her thumb, "Why were you going to kiss me tonight Chlo?"

Chloe shrugged with a sad look on her face, "I don't know, because maybe I wanted to see if there was some kind of spark between us."

Beca smirked, "Sweetie, don't you think we would have known about a spark back in my Freshman year when you walked into my shower, _naked_?"

That got a small laugh out of the older girl, "Well maybe, but we've gotten so much closer since then. You're my best friend and I feel so much around you, I just didn't want to wake up in ten years and regret not knowing."

Beca pulled Chloe into a hug, "You will always be my best friend Chlo, I love you more than words can say. But I'm not in love with you. I'm sorry."

Chloe held onto Beca. At least now she knew if there was anything between them or not. It did still hurt a little, but she knew she wasn't truly in love with the smaller girl, but she had kind of hoped. So speaking in a soft voice she asked, "Do you love Stacie?"

Beca rested her cheek against the top of Chloe's head, "Yah, I do love her Chloe."

Chloe suddenly pushed back from Beca and slapped her arm, "And I'm just finding out about this now? Some best friend you are. Why didn't you tell me?"

Beca looked at the redhead with a bit of shock, "Ummm, we didn't tell anyone because we wanted to see where it was going to go first. We were going to tell everyone tomorrow, I promise."

Chloe smiled at her, "So how long have you guys been dating?"

Beca pulled Chloe's hand into hers, "A couple of months now and it's been awesome. But it has kinda sucked having to keep it from the Bellas."

Chloe smiled at her best friend and then used her hands to shoo her away, "We can talk about this tomorrow, and yes we are going to talk about it because you are going to tell me all of the details. But now you need to go find your girlfriend and bring in the New Year properly."

Beca pulled Chloe in for a quick hug before shooting to her feet and running back into the house. She stopped in the doorway to the main room, scanning the room for Stacie. She was still with Cynthia Rose in the same spot she had left her. Beca strode across the room, ducking around people. She finally reached the two girls and as she walked up Cynthia Rose stood there with her hands clasped in front of her as she looked at her feet and started apologizing again. Beca simply placed her hand on Cynthia Rose's causing the other girl to stop talking and look at her. Beca smiled at her, "I know CR, and I'm sorry for snapping at you because you didn't know." She then gave the other girl a smirk, "But you keep your hands off my girlfriend from now on, hear me? I may be small, but I'm deadly."

Cynthia Rose grinned at the smaller girl, "Sure thing Cap."

Beca finally turned to Stacie and pulled her in for another kiss, "Miss me?"

Stacie pressed her forehead against Beca's, nodding, "Is she going to be ok?"

Beca pulled back and smiled, "Yah, she's going to be just fine. It just took her by surprise."

Stacie leaned back against the wall, pulling Beca around to stand next to her with their arms touching, their hands linked. They were both looking out at the crowd and without turning her head Stacie asked, "So, you love me, huh?"

Beca blushed, looking down at her feet like they were the most interesting thing in the world at that moment. After a few seconds she squeezed Stacie's hand, "Yah, I do love you Stacie Conrad. I hope that's ok."

Stacie stepped in front of Beca with a small frown on her face, "No, it's not ok Beca Mitchell." When Beca started to get a panicked look on her face, Stacie leaned down to kiss her. As her head moved down Stacie said in a soft voice, "It's so much better than ok. It's the best thing that's happened to me this year."

Beca couldn't help but sass back after they broke their kiss, "But it's only like 10 minutes into this year."

Stacey groaned, "You're impossible Mitchell, it's a good thing I love you too."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Alright, I was originally planning on moving quickly through the next year and a half and pretty much jump to the World's (and I'm still going to move quickly through most of it). But Electronis Zappa apparently thought the story needed a bit more. And apparently my fingers agreed because they came up with something for them. Hope you like it E.Z. So that also means that I 'lied' in the A/N's of the last chapter…there's at least one more chapter in this one because I didn't get to World's in this one. I don't know how long the next chapter is going to be, but I wanted the Chaubrey piece and World's to be separate.

In my version of PP2 here, Beca doesn't have the same issue with complimenting Kommissar. I mean, she isn't sexually confused here and she has Stacie. I mean it's Stacie. Also, Stacie replaces Jesse as the only one who knows about the internship, which pretty much keeps the retreat bear trap scene intact.

Disclaimer: It's getting hard to come up with original ways to say that I don't own PP or PP2.

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As most of the Bellas weren't even aware of 'the kiss', Beca and Stacie ended up having to explain why they were found coming out of the same bedroom the next afternoon. The rest of the Bellas were happy for them but curious on how they came to be a couple. Beca and Stacie had talked about this and had decided that this discussion would also be the best time to tell them about Stacie's major (and thus the potential for them to find out how smart she actually was). So, they talked about how Beca followed Stacie into the library one evening and then started to study with her.

Jessica piped up at that point, "Why would you need to study in the library that much Stacie?"

Beca burst in proudly before she could respond, "Well because being a chemistry major takes a lot of work. Trust me, I've seen her homework." Then she turned to Stacie, making a silly face and holding her hands in front of her, play begging, "Can I show them Shrek, pleeeeease?"

Stacie laughed at her girlfriend and nodded. Inside she was nervous, what if the girls pushed her away because she was different than them, just like everybody else had; well, everybody except Beca. Beca came bounding back, holding up her first quantum mechanics homework set, "See, these upside down triangles remind me of Shrek, and the other letters and stuff are the villagers with their pitchforks."

Chloe looked at the homework set, "Stacie, you actually understand this stuff?"

Stacie shrugged, "I guess."

Chloe just looked at her, "Holy shit Stacie, that's awesome. I wish I could do even basic algebra, but this stuff is just crazy."

Cynthia Rose piped in, "So what do you want to do when you're done here?"

Stacie looked startled for a second. Nobody (except Beca) had ever asked her that before, "I want to go get my Ph.D. in materials chemistry and my goal is to try and develop better materials for renewable energy, like solar cells or fuel cells. But I've been told by a couple of people that what I want now and what I end up liking in graduate school could be very different things."

Cynthia Rose nodded, "That's really cool Stacie."

Chloe snapped them back to the topic at hand, "Ok, so Stacie's smart, we get that now. But how did you two get together?"

Beca chuckled, leave it to Chloe to want to know the details of their love life, "Well, it just happened. I would go and study with her one night a week, then two until finally I was studying with her a few nights a week. We didn't just study, we talked and laughed. We found out that we were kind of alike, except the part where she's a genius and I'm just me."

Stacie nudged the smaller girl with her shoulder when she said the last part, "We disagree on that, I keep trying to tell her she's a genius too, just in different areas. While I'm good at chemistry, she's great at doing things with music." All of the Bellas quickly agreed with that, making Beca blush.

Beca kissed her quickly, making the other girls 'awwwww' before she continued, "Well, we had a couple of really deep conversations and I kissed her after one of them. We knew then that there was something more between us, so I asked her out, and that's that." The girls asked a few more questions, but pretty much just like that, their relationship was accepted.

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The spring semester went along pretty much the same as the fall term left off. Beca and Stacie still spent a few evenings a week studying in the library. The first night the two girls walked into the library together, holding hands, Olivia met them at the counter with the key to room 312 and a big smile on her face, "You know this is the first time that you've come in together."

Beca winked as she took the key from her, "Well, we're actually 'official' now."

Olivia nodded, "Well it's about time you two, you look so cute together."

The two girls just smiled and waved as they walked towards the stairs.

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Things continued the way they had been, except they didn't have to hide their relationship around the Bellas. They had decided to keep their same rooms for the time being, which could get a little awkward for Lily and Amy at times, but they made do. By the time finals rolled around, they decided that it was in the best interest of everyone involved for the two girls to just move into the same room together. So after finals, Beca moved all of her stuff down into Stacie's room and Lily moved her stuff up to room with Amy. While that took care of the awkward roommate walking in part, it didn't do anything about the fact that the walls weren't soundproofed.

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The next school year went by fast. Beca had her internship at Residual Heat while Stacie finished her last year of courses and studied for both the General and Chemistry GRE exams. She took the exams over Christmas break and nailed both of them. Stacie started applying for graduate schools while Beca started looking for studios and labels in the areas that Stacie was applying. The girls still kept their study dates, finding their time in the library to be almost therapeutic. That didn't keep Beca from stressing out about things. For instance, where was she going to find a job? All of the best schools for Stacie weren't really in music hotspots. Stanford or Berkley were both on the bay by San Francisco and Oakland, over five hours from L.A. Other places were even worse. UW-Madison? They had music in Wisconsin? UNC? Ever heard of a major label in North Carolina? So Beca was getting stressed.

That's how they found themselves sitting around a campfire in a circle at Aubrey's retreat. Beca had freaked out on everyone, especially Chloe. When she got caught in the bear trap, it helped her realize that she had been taking out her worries on everyone else, even Stacie a little bit. Being scared to death always helped one realize what was important. So she apologized and apologized and when she fell on top of Amy (after a very scary Lilly cut her down) she decided that maybe they did need this retreat after all.

So there they sat, Ashley leaning against a happy Jessica, Stacie mimicking her by leaning against Beca, and the rest of the Bellas spread out around the fire. Aubrey had decided to join them for the campfire and sat next to Chloe, their shoulders almost touching. They talked about their plans for the future and with a little encouragement, Chloe decided that she would actually graduate this year. Aubrey beamed at her best friend, "I'm so proud of you, Chloe." Chloe smiled back and squeezed the blonde's hand. The night wound down when Amy realized that she was actually in love with Bumper and ran off into the night, only to be captured by a bear trap. After Lucy cut the Australian down, the girls headed back to their tent.

Aubrey held Chloe back, telling the redhead that she wanted to spend some more time catching up. Chloe was more than eager to spend some quality time with Aubrey, she really missed her friend and texting, calling and Skype just weren't enough sometimes. They settled back into old routines, with Aubrey cuddled into the redhead's lap as they sat by the fire talking. Aubrey sighed as she looked up at Chloe, "I've missed this. We haven't really done this since the beginning of my Senior year."

Chloe smiled down at her, "I know, everything was just so tense and hectic that year we just kind of fell out of it."

Aubrey's smile faltered because she knew it was more than just that, there was a certain tiny brunette that took up a lot of Chloe's time that year. She always thought the two of them had a deep attraction to one another and would just end up together. When she saw Beca and Stacie together, she was a bit startled because she always envisioned Beca with Chloe. To be honest, that was another reason why they didn't spend more time together that year, because it hurt a little too much seeing the two of them together, so Aubrey had distanced herself. But now she brought her smile back for the redhead sitting above her, "I know Chlo, but at least we can enjoy it now."

The two girls talked for a while and when Chloe yawned, Aubrey frowned at her, "You should be in bed. You aren't going to be any good to the Bellas if you are dragging your ass because you are too tired."

Chloe smiled at her, "I know Bree, but this is more important."

Aubrey sat up, "Well we can do this again sometime. And sometime soon I hope, but you really need to get to bed." Chloe nodded at the blonde, standing up with her.

The two girls walked side by side towards the Bellas campsite, close enough that their shoulders would rub against each other occasionally. Just before they turned the bend in the path that led to the clearing the Bellas tent was in, Aubrey reached out and grabbed Chloe's arm, stopping her. Chloe turned to her friend with her brows creased in confusion, "What is it Bree?"

Aubrey looked up at the sky, taking a deep breath, thinking to herself, "It's now or never, Posen." She looked back into those gorgeous blue eyes as she stepped towards Chloe. She slid her hand up to Chloe's neck and slowly brought the other girl in for a kiss. Her lips finally meeting the one's that she had always dreamed about but been too scared to kiss. The lips that she was sure belonged to someone else, a certain tiny brunette, when she thought she finally had gotten the courage to try.

To say that Chloe was surprised would be an understatement. She never knew that Aubrey had any feelings beyond friendship for her. For that matter, she never thought that she had feeling for Aubrey beyond their friendship. But when Aubrey's lips met hers, she felt the kiss to her core. Nothing had ever felt so right to the redhead. It wasn't the fireworks that all of the romance novels talked about, it was deeper than that. It felt like coming home after a long time away. Her hands slipped around the blonde's waist, pulling her closer as her tongue flicked out, desperate for more. Aubrey matched her enthusiasm with her own, parting her lips enough to let her tongue tease the redhead's.

Beca, meanwhile, was getting worried about Chloe. It was getting late and they had an early morning. So she kissed Stacie and let her know she was going to check on Chloe. She slipped quietly out of the tent and started walking back towards the campfire. Luckily the moon was out so she could see where she was going. She only got a few steps from the tent when she saw the two girls in a very heated embrace. Beca stood there watching her best friend (that wasn't Stacie) kissing the former Bellas captain and smiled. Then she quietly slipped back into the tent so as not to disturb them. As she wrapped herself back around Stacie, the taller girl mumbled, "So where's Red?"

Beca smirked, "I don't think Red's coming back to the tent tonight."

Stacie turned over as quickly as she could without disturbing the other Bellas, whispering, "No way?"

Beca nodded, whispering back, "Yup, came across Red and Blondie in a serious lip lock just around the corner on the path."

Stacie lightly pushed her girlfriend, "No way?"

Beca nodded again, a big smile on her face. Stacie smirked, "Good, now I don't have to worry about her hitting on you."

Beca leaned in and kissed her, "Well, you never had to worry about me. I'm all yours."

Stacie kissed her back, "Good, I'm going to hold you to that."

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When the girls woke in the morning, there was one noticeable absence in the tent. Amy was the first to say something about it, "So what's up Shawshank, did you piss Red off again?"

Beca just smirked at her, "Nope, I had nothing to do with this."

Everyone started asking questions or getting worried that their other captain wasn't there. Beca quieted everyone down, "She's with Aubrey, they like have a thing."

Amy laughed, "Yah right, Red and the aca-Nazi are a thing, whatever Becs."

Beca shrugged, "Fine if you don't believe me then follow me."

She led the girls up to Aubrey's cabin, knocking on the door. Aubrey answered in just a t-shirt, then looked in shock at all of the Bellas standing there outside her door. Before she could say anything, Chloe came up behind her in one of her t-shirts, her hair all messy, "Who is it babe?" She just got the words out before she looked around Aubrey's shoulder to see all of the Bellas standing there in shock.

Amy just turned to Beca, "I'll never doubt you again Becs." Then she walked back to the tent, shaking her head. The rest of the Bellas followed with varying degrees of smiles and grins on their face.

Beca laughed at the other Bellas, turning to the two shocked women, "They didn't believe me when I told them that you two were together."

Chloe looked surprised, "How did _you_ know?"

Beca smirked at the two of them, "Well, when I came out to check on you last night I saw you two just outside the campsite. When you weren't there this morning, I figured that the two of you had a lot of," she finished the sentence with air quotes, "catching up to do."

Chloe grinned from ear to ear as she wrapped both hands around Aubrey's arm and kissed her cheek, bouncing a little as she did, "We certainly did."

Beca turned with Stacie to head back to the tent, calling over her shoulder, "No more 'catching up' this morning girls, we have work to do so we can kick some German ass."

The Bellas had a productive morning of activities and singing. That afternoon while the girls finished packing everything on the bus, Chloe and Aubrey stood to the side facing each other, their hands linked between them. Chloe sighed, "I'm going to miss you Bree."

Aubrey leaned in to kiss the redhead, "Well, now that I've finally had the courage to let you know how I feel, I'm never giving you up again. We'll figure out how to make this work."

Chloe sighed into the kiss, this was already her favorite thing in the world. When they broke apart she finally responded, "I know baby. We'll figure this out. When are you coming back to Atlanta to see me?"

Aubrey squeezed her hands, "I have an open block in two weeks. I'll be down there as soon as I can after my last group leaves."

Chloe leaned her head against the blonde's shoulder, "I can't wait. And I'll call every day and we can Skype more.

Aubrey kissed the top of Chloe's head, "We'll do whatever it takes Cho, I can't lose you."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: And World's are finally here! Yay! There is another A/N at the bottom (even though I'm not supposed to, but I don't want to give anything away). Maybe there's some angst, maybe not…who knows (what would be the fun in knowing)?

Disclaimer: If wishes were fishes, PP and PP2 would be goldfish and I'd have them in a tank in my room. But they aren't so I don't own anything having to do with them. There is another disclaimer at the end of the chapter.

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After the retreat, Stacie started getting acceptance letters into Ph.D. programs from the schools she applied to. She got offers from most of them and Beca was so proud of her girlfriend. She was also worried about how they were going to handle graduate school. She didn't want to give up her dream of working in the music industry but she couldn't live with herself if she kept Stacie back because of it. She was mentally preparing herself for a few years of a long distance relationship when they sat down to talk about which schools Stacie was seriously considering. The two girls sat in room 312 of the library and Stacie took out all of the offers and spread them out on the table in front of them. Beca couldn't help herself, she pulled the taller girl to her and kissed her firmly before telling her, "I am so fucking proud of you Stace."

Stacie smiled and blushed a little, knowing Beca was proud of her meant the world to her. Nobody had every accepted her as fully and without reservation as the tiny alt girl she had come to love so much, so knowing she was proud actually meant something to her. She started pushing the letters around, looking for two of them in particular. She pulled the two out and set them in front of Beca, "These are my first two choices."

Beca picked up one, then the other, reading them. She looked confused at Stacie, "University of Washington and University of Minnesota? I didn't even know you applied to these two. Why? Are they any good?"

Stacie took Beca's hands in hers, "Well, the University of Washington has an excellent chemistry program and they work closely with Pacific Northwest National Lab in central Washington. It's located in Seattle, which everyone knows has a halfway decent music scene. And Minnesota has a pretty decent program and it's in the Twin Cities. Prince is all I have to say about that."

Beca looked like she was about to cry (which she was, nobody had ever thought about her like this). She kissed the back of Stacie's hand, "Are you sure about these? I mean I see a letter from Berkley in there, they have a great program don't they?"

Stacie pulled Beca in for a hug, resting her head on top of the smaller girl's, "More sure than I've ever been about anything. I couldn't live with myself if I took you away from your music and I know you wouldn't keep me from pursuing my dreams. This way we both get to live our dreams and we get to do it together."

Beca ran her hand up and down Stacie's back, "So do you have a preference?"

Stacie nodded against Beca's head, "Washington actually makes the most sense for what I want to do and it was actually one of my top choices anyway. Plus they gave me one of the best assistantship offers, I'll only have to teach freshman labs for one semester there before I go on a Research assistantship. But if you really have your heart on the Twin Cities, we can do that instead."

Beca sat back and thought for a second, "Not a chance. Seattle has the type of music scene I'm looking for. I think that actually makes sense as the place for me to get my feet wet in the music industry. And besides, if I can actually work in either place then the school that makes the most sense for you is where we go." And just like that, Beca went from stressed out about their future to happy anticipation of what the future would bring them. And that's when the idea first popped into her head.

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Three weeks before Worlds, Beca skipped one night of their library time. Stacie didn't think much of it as she was working extremely hard with Chloe and the other girls to get everything done in time for the competition. Two weeks before Worlds, she missed two nights. Still, Stacie wasn't two concerned as Beca didn't seem to be too stressed out and explained about needing to coordinate with all of the legacy Bellas.

However, now Stacie was a little worried. Beca missed every night this week, even their Thursday night 'date'. They hadn't missed a Thursday night in room 312 since they started doing this that fateful night over a year and a half ago. Even Olivia mentioned something as Stacie returned the key later that evening, "Where's Beca been? I hope she's not sick."

Stacie just mumbled something about, "She's just been working really hard on the routine for Worlds." But she wasn't quite convinced that that was all it was.

That night as the two girls lay in bed, Stacie wrapped around the smaller brunette, she whispered, "Is everything alright Becs? I mean are we ok? It almost seems like you've been avoiding me and you missed our date night."

Beca flipped over and kissed her girlfriend on the nose, "Shhh, I'm not avoiding you and we are definitely doing good, really good if you ask me. I've just been working so hard on this thing for Worlds and it's got to be perfect. I'm sorry I've been so stressed lately and I'm really sorry that I missed our date night. I promise to make it up to you right after Worlds." She pulled Stacie into her arms, stroking her back and the two girls fell asleep holding each other.

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The Bellas walked off the stage after the last notes died. Everyone was proud of their performance and now all they had to do was wait for the judges to finish their scoring and decide the winner. As they walked into the staging area they were supposed to wait in, Beca took Stacie hand and led her to a chair, "Sit please."

Stacie looked up at her confused, but sat down in the chair as all of the Bellas gathered behind Beca. She looked up in shock as Ashley, Jessica and Cynthia Rose started with the 'instrumental' lead-in, followed by the rest of the Bellas before Beca stood in front of her starting the lyrics. She took Stacie's hand in hers as she began singing, after the first few lines Aubrey and Chloe joined in, harmonizing with Beca:

 _When I was younger  
I saw my daddy cry  
And curse at the wind  
He broke his own heart  
And I watched  
As he tried to reassemble it_

 _And my momma swore  
That she would never let herself forget  
And that was the day that I promised  
I'd never sing of love  
If it does not exist, but darlin'_

 _You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception_

Stacie looked up at Beca with tears in her eyes, the mixture of Chloe's and Aubrey's voices with her Beca's during the chorus was absolutely beautiful. She knew the lyrics to this song and she knew Beca was singing about herself, baring her soul to Stacie again. She couldn't believe Beca was doing this here, now, but she was more in love with this wonderful girl than ever before.

 _Maybe I know, somewhere  
Deep in my soul  
That love never lasts  
And we've got to find other ways  
To make it alone  
But keep a straight face_

 _And I've always lived like this  
Keeping a comfortable, distance  
And up until now  
I had sworn to myself that I'm content  
With loneliness_

 _Because none of it was ever worth the risk_

 _But, you are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception_

 _I've got a tight grip on reality  
But I can't let go of what's in front of me here  
I know your leaving in the morning, when you wake up  
Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream, oh_

 _You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception_

Beca stopped singing and let the rest of the Bellas harmonize the last chorus. She reached into her pocket and knelt in front of Stacie.

 _You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception_

The Bellas faded out and Beca sang the last two lines solo, holding the ring out.

 _And I'm on my way to believing  
Oh, and I'm on my way to believing_

Stacie couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her face as she looked into Beca's eyes. Beca smiled at her as the song ended, "Stacie Conrad, you've made me believe in love again. I've fallen so deeply in love with you that I can't imagine a day without you. Will you marry me so I never have to?"

Stacie nodded happily, "Yes, of course I'll marry you Beca."

Beca happily slid the ring on her fiancé's finger, leaning in for a slow kiss. As she pulled back, she smirked at the taller girl, "I told you I'd make it up to you _right after_ Worlds. I hope this made up for me being a little 'distant' the past couple of weeks but our library time was the only time I could rehearse with the rest of the Bellas without you potentially walking in on us."

Stacie pulled the smaller girl into a tight hug, "This is what you've been doing for the past three weeks?"

Beca nodded shyly, "I hope you don't mind me missing our date night now that you know what it was for."

Stacie kissed her soundly, "I don't mind at all."

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A/N: Pretty much ever since I started writing these fanfics I've had the idea of using "The Only Exception" for a story involving Beca. It just never felt quite perfect, until now. I've known it was going to go here ever since I wrote about Stacie talking about her growing up and knowing that Beca would do the same. I hope you all found it as fitting as I did.

As of now, there might just be a short epilogue for this story. I don't have any bright ideas to keep it going…sorry

Disclaimer: I do not own "The Only Exception" written by Hayley Williams and Josh Farro, performed by Paramore, produced by Rob Cavallo under the label Fueled by Raman and only use it here as a representation of their work and hope I have cited it sufficiently.


	10. Epilogue

A/N: E.Z. - I thought I had read it in the Rules & Guidelines for the site, but I might have been confusing that for the not putting comments in the middle of a story. But thanks for letting me know it was o.k. – I agree that you just need to do it sometimes so you don't give a plot point away at the beginning but you still need to say something. Oh, and I thought I'd give you one more Chaubrey fuzzy moment (Ok, I made the mistake of writing my author's note before I actually wrote the piece because I was like, I know what I'm writing…well I guess I didn't know and you actually get a couple of fuzzy moments … I really should know better by now).

Ok, here is the epilogue. I was looking back at the story and had eluded to the ugly duckling part of the story but had never really finished with Beca's swan. So I guess I need to rectify that here.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything PP or PP2

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This was it. This was the day she was finally going to marry Beca Mitchell. They had talked about waiting until Stacie was done with her graduate work, but damn it, five years was too long to wait to marry Beca. So here they were the week after finals during Stacie's second year, having a small wedding with all of the Bellas in attendance. She stood in front of the mirror, looking at herself standing there in a simple white wedding dress and she wondered what Beca saw when she looked at her. She knows she always acts confident about her body but she still isn't all that comfortable with it. She still sees that tall awkward girl from her freshman year of high school. But she knows Beca must see something else, because Beca's eyes light up everytime she sees her.

Aubrey walks up behind her, putting her hands on her upper arms and peering around her shoulder into the mirror, "You look beautiful Stacie. Beca won't be able to keep her eyes off of you." Stacie smiled, "Thanks Bree."

The wedding was beautifully done and the girls we're surrounded by everyone they loved. It was a perfect day for them. Beca and Stacie tried to hide their smiles as Chloe got everyone's attention at the reception (because she had asked permission before the ceremony and they were more than happy to share their special day with their two best friends). Aubrey was stunned when the redhead got down on one knee in front of her and held out a ring, "Aubrey, seeing what these two have has made me realize that I want this too. I want to grow old with the woman I love, through good times and bad. I love you so much, will you marry me?"

Aubrey slipped off her chair and onto her knees in front of Chloe, tears of happiness streaming down her cheeks, "Yes! Oh God yes, I'll marry you Chloe." The redhead slipped the ring onto her finger before pulling Aubrey in for a deep kiss, a kiss they embarrassingly broke apart from as the brides started to catcall at them.

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Beca sat in front of the computer holding up a small thin disk to the camera.

Chloe's voice came through the laptop speaker, "It looks so small."

Beca smiled, "I know, that's what I said. But Stacie says this is the next big step for solar cells. I can't believe my wife developed this."

Chloe leaned back, her swollen stomach pressing a bit too hard against the kitchen table as she had leaned forward to look at the tiny disk. She sighed as she rubbed her belly, "So, have you two decided on what you are doing when she graduates?"

Beca smiled into the computer, "Is she kicking again?"

Chloe nodded, "She's going to be either a soccer star or an NFL kicker, I tell you."

Beca laughed, "Well Stacie decided to take a post-doc here. She can collaborate with PNNL on some new solar cell stuff she's been thinking about and I can keep working a year or two at the label here. She thinks that after a year or two she'll have a solid enough research reputation that she can get a job at a good university."

Chloe smiled, "Good, sounds like a good plan for you two. Now you two should be able to come down in two months for the Christening, right. I wouldn't want her Godmothers to miss it."

Beca smirked at her through the computer, "I still can't believe you trust me enough to be a Godmother, and yes we will be there."

Chloe smiled and blew her a kiss, "Awesome! Now I've got to go lay down so maybe my soccer star will take a nap or something."

Beca blew her a kiss back, "Say hi to Aubrey for me."

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The two girls collapsed on the couch. Beca didn't think the boxes were ever going to stop coming from that moving van. She was starting to believe it was magic and kept making new boxes appear. She pulled Stacie to her, letting the taller girl collapse against her side so that Beca could wrap her arm around her, "Well Stace, we are officially moved in to our first house. Ok, maybe not _moved in_ , but all the boxes are in the house."

Stacie laughed, "And how about we leave it like that until tomorrow, I'm beat."

Beca nodded, "I'm with you on that. Order in?"

Stacie closed her eyes and relaxed against her wife, "Mmmhmm, pizza?"

Beca kissed the top of her head, "You read my mind."

The next day the two girls took a break in the afternoon to Skype with Chloe to let her know they got into the house alright and give her a video tour of their place. After the tour, Stacie went to organize her half of the office while Beca chatted with Chloe.

Chloe looked at Beca through the computer, "You look tired Becs, make sure you get enough rest before you start working. By the way, when do you start at Atlantic?"

Beca sighed, "I have to go in Monday, apparently they already have someone for me to work with."

Chloe clapped excitedly, "Oh really? Anyone I know?"

Beca smirked, "Well I don't know if I'm supposed to say or anything, but I hear she took second place on last year's The Voice."

Chloe squealed, "No way!"

Beca responded in as serious a voice as she could, "Way."

Aubrey stopped to say hi as she walked into the kitchen, kissing her wife on the cheek. Beca smiled at her, "So how's it treating you?"

Aubrey stuck her tongue out at the brunette, " _He_ is doing just fine, thank you for asking."

Beca looked shocked, "No way, you found out already?"

Chloe laughed, "Way."

Aubrey waved goodbye as she got a water from the fridge and went back to whatever she was doing. Chloe watched her go and then sighed, "I kinda hate her right now."

Beca laughed, knowing how much she really loved the other woman, "And why is that Chloe?"

Chloe gave her a fake serious look, "Because I was out to here at five months," she gave Beca an exaggerated gesture with her hands about a foot away from her stomach, "and she's barely showing."

Beca smiled at her friend, "Well we can at least hope it catches up with her and she gets really fat by the ninth month."

Chloe laughed at her friend and then leaned down and popped back up with a squirmy two year old on her lap. The little girl looked at the computer screen and waved, "Hi awnty."

Beca beamed, waving back, "Hi Stephy, how's my favorite girl."

Stephanie giggled, "Good." Then she tipped her head back to look up at her mom, "Mommy I'm hungry."

Beca laughed, "I have to go anyway, Stacie's probably got her side of the office organized already and I haven't even started." She waved at Stephanie, "Bye Stephy." Then she looked back at Chloe, "Bye Chlo, miss you."

Chloe smiled back at her, "Miss you too Becs. Talk soon." Then she closed the laptop.

Beca leaned back and stretched in her chair, then hopped up and headed back to the office. She found Stacie unpacking boxes of Chemistry and Science books and organizing them on her bookshelf. Beca walked up behind her and wrapped her arms around her waist, kissing her neck, "I can't believe I'm married to a professor at U.C.L.A."

Stacie turned around in her arms and kissed her wife, "I'm only an assistant professor, nothing too special yet."

Beca gave her a squeeze, "It still has professor in the title, that's close enough for me."

Stacie hugged her back, "I'm glad you're so easy to please."

Beca smirked at her then took her hand and pulled her towards the door, "Let's go find out if I'm really that easy to please." Stacie laughed at her wife, but followed her out without putting up much of a fight.

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Stacie stood in her bedroom trying to get ready. She wanted to look perfect for Beca tonight. After all, it wasn't often that your wife got nominated for a Grammy. She was so proud of Beca and she deserved to enjoy every minute of tonight. So instead of putting her dress on, here she sat in her bra and panties staring at her reflection in the mirror. She heard the door open and turned her head to give her Grammy nominee a smile. Beca smiled back, "How's it going in here?"

Stacie laughed, "Well, I was just about ready to get dressed."

Beca moved behind her wife, wrapping her arms around her, her head peeking around her shoulder. Her hands moved up to gently rub Stacie's pregnant belly, "Do we have to go tonight, I'd rather just stay here and look at you."

Stacie locked eyes with the brunette in the mirror and scoffed, "Yah right."

Beca turned her head and kissed her shoulder, "Stacie, you are so beautiful. I know I probably don't tell you enough but you are truly the most beautiful woman in the world to me."

Stacie looked at herself in the mirror, her wife's hands resting on her pregnant stomach and for the first time in her life she actually felt beautiful.


End file.
